At the IT Expo last week I was briefed on Speakeasy OneLink ADSL2, a then-forthcoming (but now available) family of Internet access plans with download speeds up to 8.0, 10.0 and 15.0 Mbps and uplink of up to 1.0 Mbps.

Speakeasy chief marketing officer Ginny Hutchinson told me that a key driver for their new brand of ADSL was the perception that SOHO and SMB users are increasingly downloading, creating, and uploading large, rich media files.

These could be anything from Flash-enabled PowerPoints to high-res videos and photos.

The service, which runs on Speakeasy's own fiber optic network, has now been released. Eleven markets are in the first-stage rollout: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. After a one-time $149 install, monthly prices start at $149.95.

The initiative also makes marketing sense. Speakeasy is now part of GeekSquad-owning BestBuy. GeekSquad members may be encouraged to talk up Speakeasy OneLink ADSL2 when customer dialog is ripe for that. And since BestBuyalso is building out small business technical consulting as part of their suite of services,I anticipate synergies with OneLink will flow from that channel soon.